MSOG, Inc. PO Box 215 Ashland, MA 01721-0215 |
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Saturday, October 7
Internet Archives
9:30 am to 11:30 am Virtual
Dan Earl presents Internet Archives
Worcester Chapter Meeting
Genealogists spend a lot of time in archives, but have you been to the Internet Archive? Come find out how to use this invaluable tool that will change the way you do research online. This lecture will cover what the Internet Archive, or 'Wayback Machine' can do to help genealogists with their online research. The Internet Archive is a treasure trove of information. Participants will learn how to find old webpages that have changed or been taken down, search thousands of texts, videos, audio recordings, and more!
Dan Earl is a popular genealogy educator. He lives near Lansing, Michigan with his family. He is a teacher in an inner city school district. Some people think he’s funny.
9:30 am EDT Socializing
9:45 am EDT Business meeting
10:00 am EDT Presentation
The presentation is free and open to the public.
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Saturday, November 4
Letters to Ancestors
9:30 am to 11:30 am Hybrid: Holden Library (Gale Free Library), 23 Highland St. AND virtual.
Worcester Chapter Meeting
Paula Wood presents Letters to Ancestors
Paula’s book invites readers to walk in the steps of real people with real joys and terrible heartache as they make the fateful decision to leave behind everything they knew in La Rochelle France and begin life anew in New France. After serving indentureships, they began families, and some of her ancestors were caught up in the Acadian Dispersal. In the more recent past her ancestors immigrated once again, this time to the U.S. Through genealogical research of Paula’s ancestors that was gifted to her by a family member, she learned the bare facts of the many generations of her forbears’ lives. One day these ancestors began speaking to her heart. She responded by delving into the broader story of the times they lived through. She began writing a series of letters to specific grandparents, asking them unanswerable questions and telling them how she longed to know them better. Her family’s Ceinture Fléchée (Arrow Sash) has been passed down through six generations. The Sash binds the various parts of Paula’s story into a coherent whole. Undertaking a quest to bring the family’s heirloom to each ancestor’s grave, she discovered one ancestor after the next. With each discovery, she wrapped the tombstones with the family’s Sash. While learning and then writing about her 9x grandparents she walked the Long Trail in Vermont, discovering parts of herself she had never known existed. Along with her growing sense of closeness with these ancestors, she found her way back to the Catholic Church. Every step of her journey, she knew her ancestors were praying for her.
About Paula: Paula Grandpre Wood is an author, physical therapist, wife and a person who heard the call of her ancestors! Paula was born in Pawtucket, RI close to the train station where her De Grandpre ancestors arrived from Quebec. Her family lived in Central Falls, RI in a tenement house, as her father’s family had when they immigrated to the United States. She became “The Girl from Central Falls,” not to be confused with the actress Viola Davis, who also grew up there. North Central Massachusetts is where Paula lives with her husband Michael and their three energetic dogs. The dogs get her outside in every kind of weather where they can run free.
9:30 am EDT Socializing
9:45 am EDT Business meeting
10:00 am EDT Presentation
This presentation will be Virtual via Zoom. Pre-registration is required
The presentation is free and open to the public.
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Saturday, December 2
Congregational Church Library & Archives Resources for Genealogy
9:30 am to 11:30 am Virtual
Worcester Chapter Meeting
Billy McCarthy presents Congregational Church Library
Billy's work includes processing some of the oldest and more complex collections housed in the archives, including the Park Street Church records and the Old South Church records. Billy also works alongside CLA’s patrons to help with their reference requests and staffs the reference desk during in-person visits. In 2019, Billy also started working as the collection manager for the archives, working with CLA’s offsite vendor to protect and maintain the organization’s archival records. Some of his professional interests include increasing access, collection management, processing of complex materials, and facilitating research.
About Billy:
Billy McCarthy graduated with a B.A. in History from Bridgewater State College and completed his Masters of Library and Information Science at Simmons University with a concentration in Archival Management. Billy started working at CLA through a graduate internship where he processed a collection about the Congregational Training School for Women. He stayed on a part-time basis processing collections and staffing the reference desk until he was hired full-time in 2018.He is the Head of Reader Services, helping the CLA's visitors with reference requests and facilitating in-person research.
9:30 am EDT Socializing
9:45 am EDT Business meeting
10:00 am EDT Presentation
This presentation will be Virtual via Zoom. Pre-registration is required
at https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAufuCtqTgjEt2S0E0hFb_CKJO9ZZaNj3yC#/registration
The presentation is free and open to the public.
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Saturday, January 6, 2024
Mixers and Shakers- Tracing Bartending
9:30 am to 11:30 am Virtual
Worcester Chapter Meeting
Debra Dudek presents:
Mixers and Shakers- Tracing Bartending, Saloonkeeping, and Tavernkeeping Ancestors
Just a few of the topics Debra will cover:
Beyond the Local Pub
Making Drinks at Home
Breweries
Licenses
National Register of Historical Places
City Directories and Gazetteers
About Debra: Debra M. Dudek holds a post graduate certificate in Genealogical, Palaeographic & Heraldic Studies from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. Ms. Dudek is the Book Review Editor of the Illinois State Genealogical Society, an executive board member of the Illinois State Historical Society, website coordinator for the Chicago Chapter NSDAR, and is the author of the World War I Research Guide: Tracing American Military and Non-Combatant Ancestors.
9:30 am EDT Socializing
9:45 am EDT Business meeting
10:00 am EDT Presentation
This presentation will be Virtual via Zoom. Pre-registration is required
The presentation is free and open to the public.
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Saturday, February 3, 2024
DAR Library Resources
9:30 am to 11:30 am Virtual
Worcester Chapter Meeting
Olivia Millunzi presents: A User’s Guide to the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Library
The Daughters of the American Revolution Library in Washington D.C. isn’t just for descendants of Revolutionary War soldiers! As one of the largest genealogical libraries in the country, the Daughters of the American Revolution [DAR] Library has something for everyone tracing their family history.
This presentation will give an overview of the resources available both on-site in D.C. as well as digital tools and resources available for free from wherever you normally do your family history work. Come find out how your family history is on our shelves!
Olivia Millunzi is the Reference Librarian at the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Library in Washington, D.C. She holds a BA in History and Museum Studies with a French minor from Juniata College, and an MLIS focusing in Diversity & Inclusion from the University of Maryland’s iSchool. Before coming to the DAR, Olivia worked at the Middletown Valley Historical Society, Heritage Frederick (formerly the Historical Society of Frederick County), Schifferstadt Architectural Museum (part of the Frederick County Landmarks Foundation), the National Park Service, and the National Anthropological Archives at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. She began working at the DAR as a Staff Genealogist in June 2019, and in June 2022 became the Reference Librarian for the DAR Library. Olivia lives in Frederick, MD with a cat and an unconscionably large number of books.
9:30 am EDT Socializing
9:45 am EDT Business meeting
10:00 am EDT Presentation
This presentation will be Virtual via Zoom. Pre-registration is required
The presentation is free and open to the public.
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Saturday, March 2, 2024
UMass Amherst Special Collections
9:30 am to 11:30 am Hybrid: Worcester Public Library and Virtual
Worcester Chapter Meeting
Caroline White presents:
Quakers, Aggies, and Archivists: An Inside Look at Genealogy Resources in UMass Amherst’s Archives
The Robert S. Cox Special Collections and University Archives Research Center (SCUA), in the UMass Amherst Libraries, holds more than 1,500 collections of varying sizes and in a range of formats. SCUA is open to all, and researchers come from on campus, off campus, and way off campus to use the collections; those unable to visit ask questions by email and/or use SCUA’s ever-growing online digital collections. For researchers whose interests are genealogical, whether they are asking about one ancestor or trying to construct a complete family history, SCUA has two collections that are chiefly consulted: the New England Yearly Meeting of Friends Records and the University Archives.
In a presentation that will describe SCUA’s holdings and include examples of her own work helping researchers and seekers of genealogical information, Caroline White will cover the following:
- SCUA’s mission and collecting areas
- Collection highlights
- Collections for genealogical research including
- New England Yearly Meeting of Friends Records: what they are/include, why we have them, how they fit into our collecting mission
- University Archives (official and unofficial): how they come in, what they include, what they do not include
- How to work effectively with an archivist, whether doing research in person or remotely
- SCUA resources and using them/how researchers (and casual Googlers) find us
- Challenges of remote research and why everything isn’t digitized
- Digital resources and digitization challenges
About Caroline: Caroline J. White, Archives and Manuscript Librarian in the Robert S. Cox Special Collections and University Archives Research Center (SCUA), in the UMass Amherst Libraries, is a graduate of Simmons School of Library and Information Science, where she earned an MS in archives management, and of Princeton University, where she majored in English. Before becoming an archivist, she worked for nineteen years as an editor for Viking, Penguin, and Penguin Classics, in New York City. She has taught as an adjunct instructor in Simmons’ archives program; held several short-term positions at Mount Holyoke College’s Archives and Special Collections; and given presentations at professional conferences including the Society of American Archivists, New England Archivists, and Academic Library Advancement and Development Network. Her articles have appeared in Acid Free and Archival Outlook, among other publications. A native of Philadelphia, her mother’s hometown, she grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, like her Kentucky-born father, but also has deep roots in Massachusetts, her adopted state.
9:30 am EDT Socializing
9:45 am EDT Business meeting
10:00 am EDT Presentation
This presentation will be Virtual via Zoom. Pre-registration is required
The presentation is free and open to the public.
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Saturday, April 6, 2024
Historical Society of the United Methodist Church
9:30 am to 11:30 am Virtual
Worcester Chapter Meeting
Frances Lyons presents:
Resources at the Historical Society of the United Methodist Church
About Frances:
Trained as an archivist at University College Dublin following graduation with a degree in History. Worked in museum and corporate archives until appointment as Reference Archivist at the General Commission on Archives and History of The United Methodist Church in 2008. Certified by The Academy of Certified Archivists.
9:30 am EDT Socializing
9:45 am EDT Business meeting
10:00 am EDT Presentation
This presentation will be Virtual via Zoom. Pre-registration is required
The presentation is free and open to the public.
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Saturday, May 4, 2024
When "I Do" Meant Losing Your Country and Other Citizenship & Immigration Law Peculiarities
9:30 am to 11:30 am Virtual
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